Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade has become the sixth team to clinch its spot in the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs, following a thrilling 84-88 win at AS Monaco on Friday. In its first year back in the EuroLeague since the 2013-14, Partizan has gone 19-14 through the 33 rounds to this point and earned a chance to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2010.
Led by nine-time EuroLeague champion head coach Zeljko Obradovic, Partizan will now jostle for playoff seeding in the final round of the regular season. However, the Serbian team will not be able to lean on home-court advantage in a possible Game 5, as Olympiacos Piraeus, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Monaco have already wrapped up the top four spots in the standings.
Road to playoffs
Partizan bounced back from a disappointing start to the season by overwhelming Virtus Segafredo Bologna, 90-62, in Round 4. That was the start of a three-game winning streak that Partizan capped with its first road victory, downing Panathinaikos Athens 89-91. The team's toughest moment came in late November and early December, as Partizan went on a five-game losing streak. Partizan had a 4-9 start and reaching the playoffs seemed to be out of the question, but the team bounced back.
Partizan went on to win its next four games between Rounds 14 and 17, beating defending champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul 82-79 and registering a 72-73 road win against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, before defeating FC Bayern Munich and AS Monaco at home. Partizan took the next Serbian derby in Round 21, too, edging Zvezda 78-79. From there, Partizan won its next three games up to Round 24, meaning that it had gone 9-2 over its last 11 games. Coach Obradovic's side remained strong on the road, downing Virtus 79-88 in Round 27 and beating Efes 84-97 in Round 29. Some statement home wins were needed and Partizan delivered, securing emphatic victories against the top two teams in the standings – 90-75 against Olympiacos and 104-90 against Real Madrid – before stamping its place in the playoffs with a an 84-88 triumph on the road at Monaco.
Playoff experience
This season, Coach Obradovic is hoping to notch his 19th Final Four appearance and his 10th EuroLeague title. His coaching journey started by taking Partizan to the 1992 Final Four and lifting the trophy, so Coach Obradovic may come full circle.
In terms of playoff experience among the players, a large majority of the Partizan squad have been here before. Kevin Punter and Zach LeDay helped EA7 Emporio Armani Milan reach the 2021 Final Four after downing Bayern 3-2 in a thrilling series. Elsewhere on the roster, Ioannis Papapetrou played four playoff series with Olympiacos, reaching the Final Four in 2015 and 2017; Dante Exum was part of the Barca side that beat Bayern 3-2 last season; and James Nunnally won the EuroLeague title with the Coach Obradovic-led Fenerbahce in 2017 before reaching another Final Four in 2018. Additionally, Danilo Andjusic played a role in Monaco's playoff journey last season, and Tristan Vukcevic made his EuroLeague debut with Real Madrid in the 2021 playoffs, becoming the first player to do so since Nikos Zisis with AEK Athens in 2001.
Playoff history
Since 2005, Partizan has only won one playoff series, downing Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 13 years ago, 1-13 after starting that series on the road, to secure its place in the 2010 Final Four, where it went on to lose to Olympiacos in the semifinals. In 2008, Partizan took its best-of-three series against Baskonia to a do-or-die Game 3. But, Baskonia prevailed, downing Partizan 85-68. In 2009, CSKA swept Partizan in a best-of-five series.
Coach Obradovic has won 10 out of 11 playoff series: with Panathinaikos in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012, and with Fenerbahce in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. His only playoff elimination came with Panathinaikos against Baskonia in 2006. Partizan has a 4-6 record in playoffs, but Obradovic is 29-9 at this stage (76.3%), having gone 14-7 with Panathinaikos and 15-2 with Fenerbahce.
